July 15, 2012 | 10:55 pm
BEIJING -- North Korea's top military official was relieved of his posts, state media reported Monday, a surprise move that eliminates a key figure in the ascendance of the country's young and untested leader, Kim Jong Un.
Vice Marshal Ri Yong Ho, 69, rose out of obscurity to become a mentor to Kim, the country's supreme commander, and an integral part of the leadership's inner circle after the death of dictator Kim Jong Il last year. Ri accompanied the younger Kim as they walked alongside a hearse carrying the body of Kim Jong Il at his funeral.
North Korea's official news agency said Ri was removed because of illness. The decision was made Sunday after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Worker's Party.
"We cannot rule out the possibility that ... Ri Yong Ho was dismissed on account of Kim Jong Un's unsatisfactory military grip or as a result of a power struggle in North Korea," Chang Yong-suk, an analyst at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
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-- David Pierson
twitter.com/dhpierson
Photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, attends a military parade in April with the Korean People's Army senior officers, Vice Marshal and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Choe Ryong Hae, center, and Vice Marshal and the military's General Staff Chief Ri Yong Ho, in a photo released by the Korean Central News Agency and distributed by the Korea News Service. Credit: Associated Press
BEIJING -- North Korea's top military official was relieved of his posts, state media reported Monday, a surprise move that eliminates a key figure in the ascendance of the country's young and untested leader, Kim Jong Un.
Vice Marshal Ri Yong Ho, 69, rose out of obscurity to become a mentor to Kim, the country's supreme commander, and an integral part of the leadership's inner circle after the death of dictator Kim Jong Il last year. Ri accompanied the younger Kim as they walked alongside a hearse carrying the body of Kim Jong Il at his funeral.
North Korea's official news agency said Ri was removed because of illness. The decision was made Sunday after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Worker's Party.
"We cannot rule out the possibility that ... Ri Yong Ho was dismissed on account of Kim Jong Un's unsatisfactory military grip or as a result of a power struggle in North Korea," Chang Yong-suk, an analyst at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
ALSO:
North Korean leader's female companion stirs speculation
China hires tens of thousands of North Korea guest workers
South TV show opens a window on North Korea
-- David Pierson
twitter.com/dhpierson
Photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, attends a military parade in April with the Korean People's Army senior officers, Vice Marshal and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Choe Ryong Hae, center, and Vice Marshal and the military's General Staff Chief Ri Yong Ho, in a photo released by the Korean Central News Agency and distributed by the Korea News Service. Credit: Associated Press